About this course

Entry requirements

You should normally hold a first degree equivalent to at least a British lower second-class bachelor's degree in mechanical, automotive or motorsport engineering or a related discipline. Applicants with relevant professional experience will also be considered.

Teaching is based in our state-of-the-art laboratories in a purpose-designed engineering building.

The Motorsport Engineering MSc is structured around three time periods: Semester 1 runs from September to December, Semester 2 from January to May, and the summer period completes the year until the end of September.

To qualify for a master degree you must pass the compulsory modules, two optional modules and the dissertation.

Compulsory modules:

Advanced Vehicle Dynamics will give you a thorough understanding of the relevant theoretical and practical considerations associated with optimising motorsport vehicle performance. You will learn to apply advanced vehicle dynamic analysis techniques such as the derivative method, learn how to optimise suspension using advanced software methods and then verify your solution on our four-post rig.

Advanced Vehicle Aerodynamics focuses on the problem of how to design vehicle shapes and aerodynamic packages that enhance the race vehicle performance.

Laptime Simulation & Race Engineering looks at advanced race vehicle performance subjects, including laptime simulation, data acquisition, instrumentation and telemetry. You will learn to assess the performance of racing cars, develop strategies to race engineer them and determine their ultimate performance using leading professional laptime simulation software.

Advanced Engineering Management provides you with an understanding of motorsport sponsorship, the management skills and the knowledge relevant to the motorsport engineering industries.

Optional modules (choose two):

Vehicle Crash Engineering will give you an understanding of materials, components and their structural behaviour when subjected to medium to high impact events. This includes the design, testing and modelling of motorsport components and vehicles with regard to crash worthiness.

CAD/CAM is a master level module that develops skills in using state-of-the-art design and manufacturing software used by majority of F1 teams.

Advanced Strength of Components is concerned with the prediction of the load-carrying capacity and life of mechanical engineering components by an analysis of factors such as inelastic behaviour, residual stress, stability, cracks, and fatigue and contact loading.

Advanced Materials Engineering and Joining Technology takes further the detailed processing and design of advanced materials for engineering products. The significance of the properties and composition of materials is explored in relation to the selection of joining processes and optimising joint design, for the manufacture of high-performance engineering products and structures.

Data Acquisition Systems will provide you with an understanding of the theoretical and practical issues relating to the acquisition and analysis of data.

Engineering Reliability and Risk Management covers the principles and techniques for improving the reliability of engineering components and systems, predicting their life and managing technical risk.

You also take:

The Dissertation is an individual project on a topic from motorsport engineering, offering an opportunity to specialise in a particular area of motorsport. In addition to developing high level of expertise in a particular area of motorsport, including use of industry-standard software and/or experimental work, the module will also provide you with research skills, planning techniques, project management. Whilst a wide range of industry-sponsored projects are available (e.g. Dallara, VUHL, Base Performance, McLaren, AVL), students are also able undertake their own projects in the UK and abroad, to work in close co-operation with a research, industrial or commercial organisation.

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly, the choice of modules available may differ from those described above.

Information for international students

If your first language is not English you must satisfy our English language requirement by providing us with evidence of an IELTS score of 6.0.